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Wednesday, September 25, 2013

PTSD In The Churches of God?

***Just as Vietnam veterans may become
"action junkies," former members of the WCG often become
"movement junkies" - obsessed with obscure religious movements or
other kinds of groups, continuing their quest for "The Truth" and/or
for the satisfaction of considering themselves "in the know" within
another self-described "select" group.

"Such individuals view the mainstream social and
religious institutions with continuing distrust, scorning the very real
strength and benefit that might be found in a careful and rational acceptance
of those institutions, however flawed. One former member writes:
"Psychologists themselves (all I ever knew), and ministers (ha!) - those
guys? Who wants those devil's advice? They're the ones who need it."

"Another writes, "We welcomed the 'comfort' of Jehovah's
Witnesses. At the time we would never have withstood the 'transition' without
them. We were like members until last year when we realized the danger of a
repetition of the WCG. Fortunately, we never took that fated step of baptism.
Now I thank God we realized just in time.... Now I can say, 'That's it. No more
churches.' We pray and read the Bible every day. We accept Dr. Martin's
literature still and are Christians. But we don't need churches."

"Other former members of the WCG have established their own
churches, literature, and tract ministries, etc. Many of these are virtually
unknown and show every indication of remaining so. Others have achieved varying
degrees of notoriety, mostly among former WCG members, but have a tendency to
dissension and schism. Their participants part company and continue to pursue
"The Truth" that has eluded them once again, or the sense of cosmic
purpose which they originally felt during their time in the WCG.

"Some former members, such as D., experience a series of
failed relationships. Others suffer from depression and thoughts of suicide.
One man I know was involuntarily committed to a mental hospital after his exit
from WCG. It may be impossible to know how many successful suicides have been
brought about by stress disorder directly related to the victims' time in the
Worldwide church.

"Former members of WCG may find it
difficult to return to interests and projects that had been important to them
before involvement in Worldwide. Old religious affiliations are often difficult
to resume.

"Several former members have experienced flashbacks to their
WCG days. More than two years after my exiting WCG, I was listening to a
representative from a small seminary describe his campus, the graduate program
there, and the students. Although he didn't realize the effect he was having on
me, I became more and more agitated as he described his seminary in words and
phrases almost identical to those used to describe Ambassador College. After
some minutes of this, I burst into wracking sobs, totally embarrassing myself
and totally surprising the representative. Before this incident, I had thought
myself quite "cured" of the effects of my time in the WCG and AC. In
talking with other former members, I find that such experiences are not
uncommon.

"If the effects of an experience like Worldwide on adults can
be severe, the effects on children may be much more profound. A., whose story
appeared above, attributes two of her sons' legal difficulties to the years
that the family spent in WCG. Children have not only one authority imposing
itself upon them (as the WCG is the sole authority over adult members), but
they also have the authority of their parents, whose attitudes toward and treatment
of children may be greatly affected by doctrines and directives from the WCG.
Thus, children may doubly be victims of the damaging aspects of involvement in
the WCG."

Current adherents to Armstrongism may tend to doubt and deny this, but PTSD is real, and relates directly to the Armstrong experience. The intensity of the symptoms can vary widely, with some not experiencing any symptoms at all.

When I first heard about it while reading accounts of the experiences of returning Viet Nam veterans, I recognized some of the symptoms in myself but resulting from being a different kind of veteran. I did seek out therapy, and obtained relief from some of the worse symptoms, but the symptoms described in the categories of action or adrenaline junkie, and relationship or love junkie continued to play a major role in my life up to about five or six years ago.

I'd recommend that anyone suffering from the lingering effects of Armstrongism, if needed or appropriate, find a therapy and or therapist who is a good fit with your personality type, and whom you can trust, and most definitely watch the film "A Beautiful Mind". The damage doesn't need to be catastrophically permanent, and we can utilize our own intelligence to a certain degree to overcome much of it. I've personally found God to be effective as well as that final ingredient, and this is often overlooked, but as the commercial says, your own mileage may vary.

One more thing. ACOG people could be tempted to succumb to a very simplistic and dismissive answer to this very real problem. You may here something like: "PTSD???? Why no!!! That's actually Satan, and the problem will not go away or get better until you repent and return to God's True Church!!!" (bellowed in an authoritarian and booming voice).

That, of course, is suggesting that you place yourself back in the midst of the factors which caused the PTSD. I would recommend that one journal all of the causative stress factors, and carefully examine them to determine whether those factors existed for Christians in the Bible. Also, get to know some people who do not have PTSD, and you will probably need to look outside of your church group, amongst your family, colleagues, or neighbors to find such people.

I was a member of WWCG from 1968 - 1999 and raised four children in it -- poor things. My husband and I interpreted literally the teachings of HWA which was very hard for the children as they had to attend public schools where the traditional holidays and birthdays were celebrated and pork and shellfish were allowed and one was not threatened with disfellowshipment if one worked on Saturday, etc. My oldest child ran away from home alot in her teens and subsequently descended into mental illness; her younger sister, descended into mental illness as well. Their two younger brothers got into crime. I'm not saying this is all the fault of the teachings of WWCG, but I am sure it had a lot to do with it. I wish I had never gotten involved with WWCG!

I was a member of WWCG from 1968 to 1999 and my husband and I raised four children in WWCG. It affected the children worst of all. Two are mentally ill and cannot work and two have gotten into crime. I believe this to be in large measure due to the teachings of HWA and also to my husband's and my intrepation and application to our children. I wish I had never heard GTA on the World Tomorrow radio program out of Corpus Christi in January 1963.